I am going to be on a 14-hour flight to Italy in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to see if you had any tips for snacks I could take with me without going totally over my Points for the day. Also, I have never flown overseas. Any ideas for exercises I could do on the long plane ride?

Flying Away

Dear Flying Away,

You're in luck. I've tackled this Q before (and even have a piece on Yahoo! about it). And I'm also writing this on a plane right now, so I am feeling particularly inspired to answer. A word of warning: Don't be fooled by the so-called "light" snack boxes they serve (sell) you on airplanes. Those are often filled with things that individually aren't so bad for you, but TOGETHER are a little insane. A "healthy" pack sold on one of my recent flights contained crackers, pita chips, hummus, cheese, chocolate and raisins. Billed as a "light snack", that thing had as many calories as a full meal (maybe more!). These plane snacks tend to be a bit too "carby" for me. Fatty, chip-like items don't fill me up -- they make me hungrier, so I avoid them. That being said, I'll get to your actual question. Yes, I do have some recommended plane snacks for you, and here they are. For a sweet, fiber-packed fix, I take along VitaTops (1 Point), Fiber One Chewy Bars (2-3 Points), or Gnu Bars (2 Points). They're all filling and delicious. When I want to satisfy a crunch, I take individual packs of crunchy snacks (like freeze-dried/baked fruit or veggies) onboard. These days, my favorites are Nature Valley Cinnamon Apple Fruit Crisps (1 Point) and Sensible Foods Sweet Corn Crunch Dried Snacks (1 Point). I also love Quaker Mini Delights (2 Points for any of the 3 flavors) and Crum Creek Soy Bites in EVERYTHING! flavor (the packs are HUGE and have just 105 calories and 2 Points each). As for plane exercises, I try to do a lot of leg stretches -- toe points and whatnot. And sometimes I do arm lifts with water bottles (just be careful not to clock the person next to you in the head). If you want more plane exercises, check out this great book. Have a fantastic trip, BTW. I wish I were going with you! (I'd be happy to supply the snacks!)

Dear Hungry Girl,

I would LOVE to give up dry carbs but, just like everyone else, I LOVE them. That really isn't even the issue, though. It seems like without these items, I'm just NEVER FULL! I know you aren't a doctor, but I just wanted to ask about your experience when you gave them up. Did you also NOT feel full?

Curious About the Carb Thing

Dear Curious,

Ahhh... So you read my bio. Yes, I did give up what I call "dry carbs" for almost a year. That includes all starches -- pasta, potatoes, bread, flour of any kind, etc. And to this day, if I ever want to drop a few pounds here or there for some reason (a special event or trip!), giving those things up is the fastest way for me PERSONALLY to lose that weight. It's obviously not the same for everyone, but for my body, avoiding those carby items is the key to fast weight loss. As far as how I felt when I wasn't eating those things -- I felt better than ever. I LOVE protein, and it fills me up WAY more than starches fill me up, so getting full was never a problem. For me, having an egg-white scramble for breakfast is more filling than eating a bowl of cereal. And I find eating a salad packed with protein (like lean meats and beans) is more filling than eating a sandwich. I was full -- not hungry -- and had TONS of energy and felt fantastic. The reason I started to incorporate starches back into my diet is because completely avoiding them FOREVER seemed unrealistic. So now I eat those things, but not often. And, even though I'm (technically) "Hungry Girl", I'm not really all that hungry (well, at least not ALL of the time)!

CHEW ON THIS:Today, June 13th, is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day. Feel free to spill things, break glasses, and make a huge mess. (Pssssst... We do that all the time!)

HG HEADS UP! If you had trouble getting the link to Crave This/Eat That earlier this week, click here to access it!

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